TOP-LEVEL talks were under way today to decide the pay for up to 8,000 Land Rover workers - as the car maker unveiled surging sales in the United States.

TOP-LEVEL talks were under way today to decide the pay for up to 8,000 Land Rover workers - as the car maker unveiled surging sales in the United States.

National union negotiators were meeting at an undisclosed Midlands location with bosses in a bid to hammer out a settlement this week.

Last time the two sides met, a messy dispute brought strike action and the loss of an estimated #50 million production until a two-year deal was finally concluded.

Both sides will want to avoid a repeat of that but the success of the company, demonstrated by its success across the Atlantic, will stiffen the unions' resolve to squeeze as much out of the Ford-owned business as possible.

New figures released today showed that sales in the US leapt 45 per cent last month to about 3,500, from 2,400 in September last year.

So far Land Rover has seen a massive 32 per cent rise in cars leaving the showrooms over there so far in 2005 - a total of 31,000 units - compared to the same stage in 2004.

Soaring sales have continued despite the muchpublicised ills in the American motor industry buffeted by the huge fuel price rises and the hurricane damage through big swathes of the south.

Spokesman Mark Foster said that the line-up of new models, such as Range Rover Sport, was helping to drive performance, although even the existing Range Rover was six per cent up.

He said: "Sales are strong, demand is very strong and the factory is working pretty well. We received the unions' submission and we have made a response to it and today both sides sit round a table to discuss it."

The talks cover the mainly shopfloor A-C grades at Lode Lane and some staff at the Gaydon headquarters.